


Home

by erinsmallville



Category: Guards of the Shadowlands - Sarah Fine
Genre: College, Demons, Domestic, Epilogue, Established Relationship, F/M, Flashbacks, Fluff, Guards of the Shadowlands - Freeform, Healing, Hurt, I've lost track of how many times they've saved each other, Krav Maga, Lela Santos - Freeform, Malachi Sokol - Freeform, Mention of Character Death, Mentions of WWII, Mentions of hell, Mild Spoilers, Monsters, NSFW, PTSD, Philip - Freeform, Smut, Sparring, Spoilers, Survival, Takeshi - Freeform, ana - Freeform, nadia - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-30
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2020-11-08 02:40:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20828030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erinsmallville/pseuds/erinsmallville
Summary: Lela and Malachi's adventures after Chaos





	1. Growth

Lela loved their life together. Moving into Malachi’s house had been terrifying at first. It was a little like falling in love with him in the Dark City: She wanted it so badly but was afraid of how it would change things. Lela had even been the first to broach the subject, and Malachi had initially been against moving in together before they were married, which made her heart do an awkward somersault in her chest. Lela respected his stance, not wanting to push him into anything he wasn’t ready for. He came from a different time, when courting a woman was a serious and lengthy endeavor. But, after thinking about what they’d been through together, what they felt for each other, and the fact that he didn’t need to protect her reputation or ask anyone for permission (of course he was still definitely going to ask Diane or else face her wrath), Malachi realized that he wanted to be with Lela all the time, to love her and support her, and wake up to her every morning. The nights Lela slept over were the best nights of his week. He slept easier, as if she kept the nightmares away, still protecting him after all this time. With his new realization and a plan already hatched in his mind, Malachi called Lela’s foster mother and set up a meeting at her favorite breakfast spot to ask for her blessing. Once Diane had given him one of her famous calculating looks, sizing him up, making him sweat, and then breaking into a smile before saying “You’d better take care of my baby,” he took Lela on a day trip. They went to the beach and lounged in the sun between dips into the sea, to an antique flea market that Lela had always wanted to browse, and then finally to dinner where, on the quiet patio surrounded by gardens, Malachi took her hand and placed in it a small key, attached to which was a house-shaped keychain that bore the word ‘Home.’ He would love nothing more than for Lela to share his home, and make it their own, he told her. After a split second of shock, Lela couldn’t stop from smiling and letting out a giggle before grabbing Malachi’s face and pulling him into a kiss. She wanted nothing more than to be with this amazing man, stumbling through adulthood together, making mistakes together, and building a life together. Her happiness was the most beautiful thing to him, and the fact that he was the source of her happiness made him feel like he was lighter than air, filled with bubbles and light until he might spill over like a glass of champagne on New Year’s Eve.

On moving day, Lela and Malachi had fit all of her belongings into her little Corolla and his Jeep. She didn’t have much, most of her things having been collected in the past couple of years in the land of the living- the time in which she truly, finally, felt at home and loved by the people she had finally let into her heart. Her boxes were heavy though: the photo albums full of memories she had captured of her friends and family were like her own personal library. Lela had kept photography as a hobby, and printed out all her favorite pictures. She stood looking at her empty room, and her eyes became misty, memorizing the first place that she had ever felt like a real person. Her foster mother had taken a chance on her, proving over and over again that there was nothing Lela could ever do to make Diane stop loving her. Diane came up behind Lela and put her hands on her arms. Lela had long since felt comfortable with signs of affection from her, and Diane definitely made the most of it. She turned and hugged her foster mother,

“Thank you for everything Diane. You made me feel like I had a home. I’ll miss being here.”

“Oh, baby, this will always be your home. Don’t ever feel like you can’t come back whenever you want.” They both stood there for a few minutes, sniffling and swaying. Breaking away to dry their eyes, they both huffed a laugh. Feeling like a large weight had been lifted from their shoulders, they took the last boxes out to the car and pulled away from Diane’s house. 

Malachi was practically buzzing with barely concealed excitement from the moment she said yes. Always prepared for any situation, he had already cleared out space for all of Lela’s things (not that he had much, he was still the no-nonsense tidy person he always was) and surprised her with a new picture frame to put with the rest he gave her on her 18th birthday; but this one was empty. “This is for our first picture in our home.” He looked so hopeful and happy and sweet, and her heart thrilled at the words 'our home.' Lela knew that the future he always wanted for himself was in some ways coming true. She remembered his dream: a quiet life, a happy home, kids running around the backyard. She wanted to be that future, and when he kissed her, tugging on a lock of her hair, she briefly saw herself in a white dress, people all around her, flowers everywhere, and heard a camera shutter…. She looked over to Diane who had just taken a picture of them, tears in her eyes. Malachi beckoned her into a group hug, along with Hannah, Lela's moody teenage foster sister, and she indulged them only for a moment before clearing her throat and grabbing the first box from Lela's car.

Moving in was nothing if not typical for Lela’s whole life: somewhere along the way one of her already few boxes mysteriously disappeared, and the soft case for her camera with the spare battery. Diane had gotten separated from their little caravan and took a wrong turn on the way over, and Lela got a nasty papercut from one of the cardboard boxes. After convincing Malachi she was alright, and letting him disinfect and bandage her finger anyway, the rest of the day went smoothly. Her little family had a surprisingly good time putting everything away and giving the whole house a good cleaning before breaking for pizza. After dinner it was time for Diane to leave, taking Hannah with her. They both cried again and hugged each other tight, and her foster sister had actually given Lela another hug.

As they stood on the front porch watching Diane’s car reach the end of the street before turning onto the main road and out of sight, Lela couldn’t stop the tears from running down her face. Never before had moving made her emotional, but Diane had really come to feel like her mother. They were family, and it felt like a chapter of her life was ending. Malachi wrapped his arms around her and kissed her head. 

“Are you happy?” He whispered next to her ear. It killed him to think it, but he would move all of her things back if that's what she wanted. 

“Of course I am! I’m fine, it just- I don't-“

“You’ve never done this before. Moved out of your parent’s house, of your own volition. It’s uncharted territory.” 

“Exactly.” Once again seeing right through her, reading all of her emotions on her face, he’d described what she was feeling. It was a comfort that he knew her so well. She turned in his arms and placed her hands on his chest. Malachi tightened his hold and Lela breathed in his scent- leather and sunlight. She looked up into his eyes, dark, unreadable, and tentative, like he was waiting for her to go running back to Diane’s. 

“I love you,” Lela moved her hands to either side of his face. “I want to do this with you. I want this to be our home, and I’m not going anywhere.”

Malachi closed his eyes and the breath he was holding whooshed out of his lungs as she said the words he needed to hear. He kissed her and lifted her off her feet, sending tingles to her toes. 

“Should we, uh, take this inside?” Lela asked breathlessly.

Malachi chuckled, hitching her knees around his hips and carrying her across the threshold into her new home. Once inside, he shut the door and pinned Lela against it, her legs still around his hips. She gasped and ran her fingers through his hair, raking her fingernails along his scalp gently. He groaned and pressed his hips into hers, pressing his fingers into her sides, slipping them under her shirt and pulling it up over her head. When their lips parted and Malachi exposed his neck, she went in for the kill, playfully nipping at his jaw and then mouthing her way down to his collarbone. It drew a gasp from his chest and Lela couldn’t wait to see the muscles underneath it twitch at her touch. As soon as she tugged at his collar, Malachi lifted and flung it to the floor. Impatient with their progress, he carried Lela over to his- their- couch, holding his body over hers, not taking his lips off of her while he unbuttoned her jeans. He sat back on his heels to pull them off her legs, then slowly ran his hands up her legs, marveling at her curves, the toned muscles, the few white scars she had left. The first time he saw her, she was the most wild, most alive thing he’d ever seen. Even in the land of the living, where everything was color and vibrance, she was a force like the wind or the ocean. He felt like a daredevil every time he held her. Like he was jumping out of an airplane just to feel her catch him before he hit the ground. 

Lela loved the way Malachi touched her. Not like she was fragile, but still precious. He held her with such reverence that she felt indestructible. He leaned down over her stomach and lavished kisses along her abs up to her breasts and growled low at her bra obstructing his hands from her skin. He tugged the material down and closed his mouth around one of her nipples. Lela gasped. His hands and mouth were all over her, feeling every inch and trailing his tongue around her nipples until she thought she’d go crazy. Malachi had snaked one of his hands under her back and unclasped it, adding another garment to the floor. He groaned at the sight of her bare skin, taking one nipple in each hand, grinding his hips into hers and sucking faint marks into her neck. He pressed his tongue to Lela’s artery and felt her heart rate pounding. Her gasps and squeaks drove him wild. Lela could do little more than tug at his hair and rake her fingers along his back. Frustrated about that, and the fact that he still had his pants on, Lela bucked her hips and flipped them both onto the floor, Malachi letting out a gasping moan when she sat up to grind her hips into his before returning his favor, and removing his jeans. She was still blown away by his body, his smooth caramel skin and taut muscles made it hard to concentrate when he was fully clothed, and impossible to resist now. She let her hands run over his torso and he closed his eyes, her touch stirring up flames inside him until he thought he’d catch fire. Lela ground her hips on Malachi’s and kissed him deeply, hands roaming , tongues battling, gasping until Malachi had had enough. He sat up, swung Lela’s legs around and stood up with her in his arms like she weighed nothing, and took her to his- their- bed. He remembered that she never had to leave him now, she would be here every night. When he wanted to love her and feel her skin, she would always be here. He set her on her feet and held her face in his hands. 

“You have no idea what you do to me, Lela.”

“I think I have some idea.” She laughed. “But why don’t you show me anyway?”

Malachi growled in her ear and dropped to his knees. His fingers tugged down her underwear until they dropped on the floor. One hand on each thigh, he breathed softly onto her wet folds before flicking his tongue between them. Lela gasped and put her hands on his shoulders to steady herself. He slowly buried his tongue deeper, gliding it back and forth while he moved her hips to his rhythm. He groaned and the vibrations earned him a sharp moan. Malachi thrust his tongue deep and flicked it along her clit before covering her with his mouth to lick up all her juices. Lela’s knees were shaking, and between his tongue and his moans she was about to go over the edge. At that moment he withdrew his tongue and moved his hands around to her ass, picking her up just for a second but sliding her against his body until she was sat on the bed. Feeling his erection grind on her she groaned and laid on her back. Malachi’s look was so hot she felt goosebumps spread over her. Malachi slipped off his underwear and leaned over her, both of them crawling to the center of the bed before he let his weight rest between her legs. They both moaned at the sensation, driven crazy he pumped his hips to feel his erection against Lela’s wet folds. He kissed and sucked at her neck until he left marks while he grabbed for a condom. Lela took it from his hand. At his confused look she just said, “Let me help.”

She opened the wrapper and placed the condom onto his member. He gasped as she started unrolling it, pumping her hands along his shaft until he moaned/growled and crushed his lips on hers. He settled himself between her legs and slowly entered her, going deeper as she relaxed and shuddering as he bottomed out. Lela put her hands on his hips and pulled him even deeper, they started a rhythm, hips slowly meeting faster and faster. Malachi had a hand in her hair, and she loved the slight tug she felt with every hip thrust. She moved her hands lower and squeezed his ass cheeks, both of them uttering moans and curses and ‘I love you’s. He drew back to look at Lela, moving a hand to gently pinch one of her nipples, and groaning at the sounds she let out. 

“I love watching you come undone, Lela. I could watch you for hours. You’re so gorgeous. So perfect.” He panted praise to her as she was wound tighter and tighter, sending her brain into overdrive, her nerves all firing at once, until the last few pumps, his hips hitting her clit just right until, “Oh my god! Oh, fuck, Malachi.” She gripped him so hard as she came her nails dug into his skin, and along with the sound of his name from her lips it took Malachi over the edge. Thrusting into her again and shuddering, he showered her in kisses and stroked her hair out of her face. 

Malachi rolled off to the side and they laid there panting. He reached for her hand and held it to his chest before standing up to get cleaned up. Lela closed her eyes as she came down, her breath evening out, happy and calm. When she opened her eyes, Malachi was sitting next to her, watching her with a smile on his face. 

“What’re you lookin’ at?” Lela giggled.

“You’re the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen, and you are in my bed, and you live here with me. I do not know how I became so lucky.”

Blushing she sat up to pull a tshirt on but Malachi stopped her. He pulled her against him and they laid down together, him running his hands along her skin, kissing her hair until she dozed off. He stayed awake for a long time after that, just looking at her in the low light, her wild hair all over the pillow. Until he also fell asleep.


	2. The Gift of the Magi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The two most perfect people want to give each other the world.

The thing about living together while going to school and working is that all of their free time was spent… sleeping. After homework and house cleaning, there were too few hours in a day to themselves. Lela had mentioned how little they saw each other, and how nice it would be to take a vacation. She hadn’t taken a vacation that she could remember: there wasn’t much opportunity when she was being tossed from foster home to foster home. Malachi recalled his family going on holiday a few times when he was young. Thinking of his family picnics by the sea, his parents laughing in the sunlight, throwing a baseball with his brother, Malachi’s heart ached. It sparked an idea. 

He worked a few nights every week teaching krav maga at a local studio. It paid his bills and barely paid for his university. He had to save enough money to take Lela on holiday. Malachi wanted everything for her, and he would make this the best holiday. Lela had told him about borrowing money to pay for school, but he had felt that would be counterintuitive. He still didn’t want to loan money, so he asked his boss at work about taking on more classes. He actually told Malachi that he could take on clients on his own, and maybe enter a competition to win some money. The school term would be ending shortly which would leave him much more time to work. Between teaching and competing, he would have to find out where Lela would most like to visit. 

After training his first solo client, Malachi was eating his dinner at the table with Lela and her homework. He looked at the top of her head- as she was resting it in her hand, clearly frustrated with what she was working on- and tried to subtly bring up dream vacations. 

“What homework are you working on tonight?” He asked innocently.

“Geography.”

He couldn’t believe his luck. “Oh?”

“Yeah. I wish it were something easy like ‘which countries surround Switzerland?’ and not this garbage traffic light statistics project.”

“Oh that sounds interesting.” Malachi pushed his plate to the side and pulled her book closer. All his years collecting data from the Dark City had made him realize he had a knack for most social sciences, not just cartography.

“Amazing. I’m stumped and you figure it out in two seconds.” Lela rubbed her palms over her eyes. 

“It’s simple- create a theory based on this data structure, collect the data and report your findings. For example,” he scratched his skin thoughtfully, “You could hypothesize on how many people travel into and out of Switzerland.”

“I guess I could do that. You wanna help me?” She asked with an expectant smile that said ‘please help me.’

Malachi chuckled, “Of course I will help you, but only if you’ll help me with this History of Music assignment. Who is Bob Marley?”

“Oh sweetie.”

As they were working on Lela’s assignment, Malachi very subtly threw in comments like ‘Ok so Geneva saw over seventeen thousand visitors last year, particularly in june and july. Wouldn’t that be lovely?’ and ‘Oh my family went there when I was an infant’ to see what her response would be. After they’d finished her project, she looked at the computer thoughtfully and said, “Where did Takeshi say he was from?” Malachi was caught off guard, unprepared for the rush of memories of his Captain and best friend from the Dark City; their training sessions, Takeshi's possession, his death. As his thoughts turned to the present, Malachi realized he was trying so hard to find out where Lela would most want to visit, and she was thinking of others. She was the most selfless and considerate person he’d ever known, and he wanted more than ever to take her around the world, show her his hometown, and see places neither of them had been before.

“He, ah, is from Japan. He was a samurai over a hundred years ago.” He was a man of honor who had been betrayed by his own commander. They had to do some detective work, piecing Takeshi's story together with information they could find since he never mentioned specifics. They’d both gotten engrossed with finding their departed friends’ homelands and searched until they’d found Takeshi’s province, and Ana’s village in El Salvador. Malachi’s first Captain, Philip, was a civil war soldier from Virginia, but they had no other information to go on.

“I’d better get some extra credit for this.” Lela chuckled dryly. Their little side project got her thinking, though: Lela had never been on a vacation. Malachi hadn’t had a vacation in 80 years. She had to do something about it. He was the most honorable and selfless person she knew, and he deserved the world. There weren’t many more hours she could work at the family services office, and she didn’t have a skill she could teach like Malachi did. Maybe Diane could find her some work at corrections….

A month later, the semester finally ended, Malachi, of course, with a perfect GPA and Lela doing modestly well. 

“You’re being too hard on yourself again. You should be proud, you did a great job.” He kissed the top of her head and looked at her transcript on the computer screen. “See? Our geography project put you up to an A!” He ran away before she could swat him for being smug. He was right though, without his help she wouldn’t have gotten through that class.

“Ok mister ‘who’s Bob Marley,’ let’s see you pass Modern History without me.” She raised her eyebrows and turned back to the monitor. 

Malachi walked back over, spun her chair around and knelt in front of her, “You are right. We make a great team, as always.” He took her hands and kissed them, “I think that makes us, co-captains?”

“I think you’re right.” Lela smiled as she remembered when they were each other’s captains in the Guard. He taught her how to trust again, and then he believed in her when she doubted herself as a captain. He always gave so much of himself to everyone. This summer she would work harder than ever to give him the holiday he deserved, and to maybe see his home again.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“How is it August already?”

“Well that does come after July.”

“Ok mister smartass.” Lela gave Malachi a withering look over her laptop, earning her a devilish grin in return, and then continued scheduling her classes. Summer had flown by so quickly for both of them, Malachi teaching martial arts and Lela splitting her time between social services and a diner down the street. She was glad he had something to keep him occupied since she worked double shifts most days. Her savings account went through the roof, though, and that was one less thing to worry about during the semester. It was junior year and classes were only getting tougher. Lela was ahead of the game with the time she spent working in the social services office, and she’d already built up experience with kids who needed second chances. 

After a summer of working, Malachi was ready for the term to begin. He still loved going to university, and appreciated every day that was given to him. He had taken a year of classes before he committed to a major in Business Economics. He loved the challenge, and now that he had experience in teaching self defense, decided to open his own martial arts studio someday. His summer had been full of teaching- and learning. It was a wonderful feeling to train his students when he knew there were no monsters out there. They weren’t training to kill, or for survival. He could appreciate the discipline and instill it in others to quiet their inner demons, like he did, or to become stronger and more confident. He was always proud of his students, eager to see their progress every week. 

Malachi glanced over his book at Lela, pondering. She happened to meet his eyes, “What?”

“When was the last time we went out together?”

“Oh I have no idea.”

He tossed his book onto the couch and stood up, came over to Lela and pulled her to her feet.

“Let’s go to the beach one last time before homework steals us away from each other again.”

“You don’t have to ask me twice!” She lit up at the chance to relax and bury her feet in the sand, wade into the ocean, and smell the salty air. 

They packed up a lunch and their towels, and in twenty minutes were on the road, windows down in the warm August sun. Malachi had an ulterior motive for their end-of-summer beach day. He figured it would be the perfect time to tell her about his plans to take her on holiday. He’d been planning it all summer, choosing their destinations but leaving the mode of transportation to Lela when he told her. He had no idea which she would rather take. An airplane was essential between continents, but would she like backpacking? Was it too similar to their old patrols as Guards? Were trains too crowded for her? It was best to leave it to her.

Lela let her hand hang out the car window, feeling the air currents change. She tried to think of the best way to bring up her surprise gift. She had made a list of everywhere she thought Malachi would want to go, but would leave the itinerary up to him. He’d been in the living world for a few years now, but international travel was bound to be far more intense than it was 80 years ago. She would leave it up to him, and whatever he was comfortable with. Their relationship has been so full of trust and working things out together, they were a strong team and had each other’s backs.

“I never want to leave. Can we be hermits and live on the beach?” Lela stretched out on her towel, eyes closed, soaking in the sunshine.

“If that is what you really want.” Malachi couldn’t take his eyes off of her. She had always smelled like the ocean to him, and this is where he was reminded of the day they met. Lela was fierce, and full of life in a place that had only known death. She was strong like the tide, and even now she lifted him up and carried him along, and he was at her mercy.

“Lela, I have a surprise for you.”

“Really? That's so weird. I have one for you.” Of course he also had a surprise. Never to be outdone, she thought. The most considerate man on earth.

“Would you like to go first?”

“How about we say them at the same time so we’re both surprised.”

“Challenge accepted.” They sat up and faced each other, breathed in, and-

“We’re going on a vacation!”

“What did you say-“

“You mean, you-“

“WHAT!?”

“How did this happen.”

They started laughing, and couldn’t stop, eventually tackling each other into the sand. Malachi showered Lela in kisses. This beautiful woman would never cease to amaze him. She had the biggest heart, and he would forever be grateful to have shelter there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted. Thank you for reading!


	3. Snow Drift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lela is late for class

All semester long, Lela and Malachi could barely contain their excitement. One on hand, it made concentrating on assignments more difficult, but on the other hand, it was almost impossible to be in a bad mood. All they could think about was their trip, going over their itinerary almost daily. They even made a game: every time they completed an assignment on time, they put another ten dollars in their trip fund. Over christmas break, while it snowed outside, they were cuddled up together watching travel vlogs from all the places they would be visiting. 

For christmas, Malachi had gotten Lela a new backpack for the trip, with room and smaller bags inside for all the essentials. He was, as never, thoughtful and practical. Lela had given Malachi a tablet, with maps to all of their destinations already downloaded, along with photos of them together. As he’d looked through the files, he’d been quiet, causing Lela to falter, thinking she’d failed at gift giving, but then he looked at her with glistening eyes, one side of his mouth quirking up in a bemused expression. She never failed to tug at his heart with her kindness.  
“Lela, this is perfect. Thank you.”  
\---------------------------------  
Classes had just resumed in January, all of the students at the University of Rhode Island were trudging to class through the snow, faces turned down against the falling snow. Lela woke up late for class- technically had woken up on time but then hit ‘snooze’ and overslept- and was hurrying to her lecture, navigating the snow covered roads. Lela cursed her early Psychology lecture for starting before the snowplows could get out. She carefully accelerated onto the highway, gingerly merging into the empty lane. It was just a few exits until the university, but the snow had piled up in drifts between each lane and in some areas were completely covering the pavement. She white-knuckled her way through each drift, trying not to oversteer and send her car spinning. She was so concentrated on driving that she must have missed the soft ‘ding’ of her low-fuel indicator. The car started to sputter and slow down before Lela realized what was going on. She managed to veer over to the shoulder before the car rolled to the stop, and then stalled. Her heart pounding, she cursed herself for forgetting to get gas, especially in this weather. She hit the steering wheel in frustration, resting her head on it until her pulse slowed back down. The only thing to do now was to walk to the nearest gas station. 

Lela laid her forehead on the steering wheel again, girding herself for the cold walk. She dug around the backseat for a hat and some gloves. She tightened her scarf around her face and took a deep breath before opening the door. It was still dark, and there were big fluffy snowflakes falling quietly, muffling the ambient noise of the normally busy highway. The walk to the nearest gas station had to be at least two miles, and would take her twice as long to walk in the snow. She stuffed her hands into her pockets to keep them warm and started walking.

Malachi woke up before his alarm and immediately got up to start his morning. He looked at Lela’s empty side of the bed while he dressed. Waking up alone was all too familiar, but he’d gotten used to Lela’s warmth beside him and he missed her reassuring presence. His classes didn’t start as early as hers, much to Lela’s chagrin. She often said his late mornings were wasted on him as he did not like sleeping the morning away. He walked to the kitchen to start his coffee and looked out the window at the veritable blizzard in progress. He hoped Lela had driven carefully. He checked his phone- no messages. With a frown, he sent her a text. “Did you arrive to class safely? Be careful. I will see you later for lunch.” While his coffee brewed, Malachi cleared the sidewalk and half of the driveway, noticing Lela’s footprints from this morning. He frowned again. Malachi hadn’t seen the weather report, or else he would have been prepared, and Lela would never have had to tromp through all of this snow. He made a mental note to check the weather at night from now on. He gathered his things for class, poured his coffee into a travel mug and grabbed a banana on his way out the door.

Malachi drove carefully down their street, even after the snowplows had been through, there was a considerable amount of slush and ice. His mind started wandering to a project in his economics class when he noticed a stranded driver on the side of the freeway. The unfortunate vehicle was piled with snow from the plow trucks, which meant the it had been there for some time. As the thought to pull over and help went through his head, he noticed the make and model of the car. He slowed to get a good look at the back window- there it was. A University of Rhode Island sticker. His stomach turned to ice- it was Lela’s car.

As fast as he could without spinning out, Malachi pulled over several yards past Lela’s car, his heart hammering in his chest. There was no visible damage to her car, but why was it parked on the freeway? He ran to the passenger side and looked in the window. He didn’t know what to expect, would she be inside? Why hadn’t she replied to his text? Or called him for assistance? Every terrible thought ran through his head. The memories of Mazikin kidnapping and torturing Lela sent him into a panic: It had been years since the creatures were defeated. Were they back again? Malachi’s blood ran cold. Fighting to stay in the present, against flashbacks of being tied up in a square, bloodied and burning. He tried not to remember what Lela had looked like when she died in his arms. He looked around for other clues as to where Lela might have gone and cursed himself for destroying evidence of tracks in the snow in his rush to get to her car. Whatever evidence was on the driver’s side had been covered by the snow plow. As he circled wider around the car, he noticed just one pair of tracks going straight into the trees beside the highway, getting more faint by the minute from the falling snow. He hesitated only long enough to shut off his own car before following the trail, taking deep breaths to steady his nerves and stay prepared for any situation. A small voice in his head hoped he wasn’t out of practice, that he was still the most deadly Guard in the history of the Dark City.

Meanwhile, Lela was finally on her way back to her car. She had made it to the nearest gas station, only to find out they didn’t sell gas cans. What kind of gas station doesn’t sell a container made specifically for gasoline?? Malachi wouldn’t have made this mistake, she told herself. He’d be ready for anything, and probably had every emergency item available in his car. Silently chiding herself for not being prepared, she set out again to find a gas can. On her way out, it occurred to her that Malachi hadn’t heard from her yet, and felt for her phone to send him their usual ‘good morning’ text, only her phone was not in her pocket. “Of course. Why would it be?” She said out loud. This morning was a trainwreck.  
Lela and her full gas can sloshed their way back to the highway. It was light outside now, a typical overcast winter day. Not for the first time that morning, she wished she lived closer to the equator. She imagined living on a beach year-round, enjoying the sea and sand, picturing Malachi in swim trunks every day, and made that her new goal in life. So deep in her thoughts, Lela didn’t hear another person’s footsteps until it was too late.

Malachi had called for Lela a few times before just committing to following her tracks. The snow hadn’t quite made its way through the trees yet, making it somewhat easier to trace. He listened to everything around him; it was a bit eerie in the woods, he could barely hear traffic on the freeway. Malachi paused, hearing another set of footsteps. He crouched, trying to pinpoint which direction it was coming from. He thought he could hear whispering- although he could only hear one set of footprints. Who were they talking to? Through the trees to his right he saw movement- a bundled figure trudged toward him carrying a small red can. He hid quickly and got a better look at the person and saw, it was Lela. Malachi sagged into the tree he was hidden behind and released a heavy breath. She’s ok. She’s alive, and her car must have run out of gasoline. He almost laughed out loud, but he still had surprise on his side at the moment….

Malachi stalked behind her as quietly as he could- not that she would have heard him because she was indeed whispering to herself. He knew he was testing her combat skills, but he was also very aware of her past and how she usually reacted to an attack from behind. He was prepared for anything. With a few loping steps he grabbed the gasoline canister with one hand and her arm with the other, wrapping her arm around herself and securing it with his so she was still facing away from him. 

“Is this your way of keeping me on my toes?” He murmered into her ear.

Just as quickly she threw her hips back and flipped him over her shoulder.

“MALACHI.” She gasped, her expression would have withered anyone else, but Malachi was just glad she was ok, was still present.

“The same.” He replied from the ground, chuckling.

“Why are you here and how did you get the drop on me?” Lela puffed, still trying to catch her breath.

Still smiling as he rose, brushing himself off, Malachi asked “Why are you here and not calling me for help?”

Lela closed her eyes and calmed herself before she said anything she'd regret.

“I don’t have my phone, and I ran out of gas. No big deal.” She was a little embarassed at how unprepared she was and scared to death after the surprise attack,but all of this was a result of how much stress she had been under lately, and the last thing Lela wanted to hear was a lecture.

“On the contrary.” He walked up to her, putting his hands on either side of her face. “It is a big deal to me. I know you can take care of yourself, but anything could happen.”

As he looked at her, she knew he was seeing the worst of his memories. Times he wasn’t there for her when he felt he should have been. The people he had lost because he wasn't there to save them. “Hey,” she whispered, pulling him back from wherever he was, “I’m alright. Thank you for looking for me.”

Lela pulled him in for a kiss, he put his arms around her and squeezed her so tight she could feel it through her puffy winter coat. He picked up the gas can and they started toward the freeway and their vehicles. 

“Hey, would you be opposed to living somewhere tropical?”


End file.
